Automatic glass loader



July 16, 1963 J. E. COPENHEFER AUTOMATIC GLASS LOADER Filed July 15,1959 INVENTOR.

JOHN E. COPENHEFER mid ATTORNEY United States Patent ()filice PatentedJuly 16, 1963 expanded glass fiber mat material are generally described.

in Jackson US. Patent No. 2,798,531. Briefly the spinning of thecondensed filamentous mat includes the transverse reciprocation of aglass furnace axially above a spinning drum which rotates a multiplicityof times during each reciprocation of the furnace and the feeding of aplurality of filaments from the furnace onto the rotating drum surfaceto build up a cylindrical condensed filamentous mat thereon duringsuccessive furnace traverses. Subsequent operations include removal of acondensed mat of desired thickness from the drum and elongation thereofto a predetermined length with a concomitant decrease in width andincrease in thickness thereof to form a web of expanded glass fiber matmaterial which may then be severed into a plurality of discrete units ofpredetermined dimension.

Product specifications require that the expanded mat contain apredetermined weight of glass that there be a relatively uniformdistribution thereof throughout the expanded mat to provide a weightuniformity in the resultant several products within predeterminedtolerances. These desired characteristics can only he attained by thefabrication of uniform character condensed mats and the uniformfabrication of such mats requires a maintenance of uniform furnace heat,the maintenance of a uniform rate of glass filament withdrawal from thefurnace which in turn requires, inter alia, the maintenance in theoperation of such apparatus the furnace must be periodicallyincrementally replenished with raw glass to replace that drawn therefromas indicated by the balance weight scale.

In the operation of such apparatus, the closer the operator maintainsthe weight of the furnace and its contents to its tare weight value, thegreater is the frequency of the required incremental raw glassreplenishment operations. Since the furnaces are usually elevated abovethe rotating drum and the operators attention is required both at thedrum and at the furnace, the required incremental replenishment of thefurnace in fabrication of mats by such method has required a division ofthe time of the machine operators although resulting in the fabricationof condensed mats of improved character.

This invention may be briefly described as an improved apparatus foreffecting the controlled spinning of condensed filamentous mats andincludes means for sensing predetermined departures in the weight of thefurnace and its contents from its tare weight value and associated meansfor automatically effecting the replenishment of the glass in areciprocating glass furnace in accordance with said predetermineddepartures in the weight of said furnace and its contents from its tareweight values during the spinning operation.

Among the advantages of the herein described invention is a permittedextremely fine control of the head of molten glass maintained in areciprocating furnace, the 1 ready maintenance of a close degree ofconstancy of operations in the spinning of condensed filamentous mats,the provision of simple control for determining the amount of glasscontained in any given mat at any given time, the effective removal ofone critical variable that is partially determinative of the characterof the finished product from the machine operators who therefore canmore efliciently devote their energies and skills to control of othervariables in the fabrication process, and the provision of simple andinexpensive apparatus that materially contributes to the fabrication ofan improved product.

The object of this invention is the provision of improved apparatus foreffecting. the controlled spinning of condensed filamentous mats.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an automatic glassloading device for reciprocating furnaces in the fabrication ofcondensed filamentous mats.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will 'be pointed out inthe following disclosure (and claims and will be illustrated in theaccompanying drawings which disclose, by way of example, the principlesof the invention and the essentials of presently preferred apparatusincorporating said principles.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic side elevational view of the essentials ofsuitable apparatus incorporating the principles of the invention.

FIGURE 2is a schematic circuit diagram ofthe essentials of theelectrical control system incorporating the principles of the invention.

By way of general introduction the herein described apparatus includesmeans for rendering the reciprocating glass furnace and its contentscontinually balance weighable during the spinning operation, means forrendering a supply of glass or other raw material continually balanceWeighable and associated means responsive to predetermined departures ofthe weight of the furnace and its contents from its tare weight valuefor effecting the selective introduction of raw material into saidreciprocating furnace at a predetermined position in its path ofreciprocation.

As schematically shownin FIGURE 1 the rendering of the reciprocatingglass furnace and its contents balance weighable is readily effected bymounting a balance weight scale on the drum traversing furnace carriageand suspending the glass furnace and the associated feeding funnel fromthe weight sensitive plate of the scale. A suitable arrangement includesa generally rectangular furnace carriage members 10 having wheels 12mounted thereon adapted to run on a horizontally disposed track 14 andto be reciprocated in a predetermined path there on by a drive mechanism(not shown) which preferably is of the type described in the aboveidentified Jackson patent. The base portion 16 of a balance weightscale, generally designated 20, is mounted on the carriage member 10 andis reciprocable along the track 14 in conjunction therewith. The scale2t} includes the usual weight sensitive plate member 22 and an upwardlydirected superstructure 24- for the balance weight arm 26. The furnace28 and its associated glass feeding funnel 30- are suspended from a.supporting structure which includes a horizontally disposed supportingmember 32 supported by the plate 22 of the scale 20. By the abovearrangement, the furnace 28 and its contentsare rendered continuouslybalance weighable during the spinning operation.

-The free end of the balance arm 26 of the scale 23* is utilized tooperate an electrical switch member generally designated 34, whenever apredetermined departure in the weight of the furnace and its contentsfrom its tare weight value occurs. The effect of such switch actuationwill be described later in this specification. As shown in the drawings,the open mouth 36 of the furnace feeding funnel 34) is made of enlargedsize in the direction of furnace reciprocation and has associatedtherewith an extending actuating arm 38.

The apparatus also includes a glass or raw material hopper 40 of a sizeto contain sufficient glass for a days or more operations. The hopper 40is suspended from the weight sensitive plate 42 of a balance weightscale 44 by suitable frame members 46. The scale 44 is mounted on asuitable supporting structure (not shown). The balance weight arm 48 ofthe hopper scale is preferably located on the spinning drum floor so asto be conveniently observable and settable by the machine operator and,as schematically shown, in the drawing, the free end of the balanceweight arm 43 is utilized to operate a switch member generallydesignated 50. The lower end of the hopper 40 is conventionally taperedas at 52 and terminates in a pan 54 having an air actuated vibratorassembly 56 associated therewith. The air actuated vibrator assembly 56may suitably be a so called Peterson Vibrolator as manufactured by theMartin Engineering Co., of Kewanee, Ill. The essentials of such unitsare also disclosed in US. Patents 2,778,612 and 2,793,009. The vibratoractuated pan 54 feeds into a loading chute 58 having a gate 60 at thedependent end thereof. The gate so is pivotally mounted as at 62, biasedin the closed position by a spring 64 and is provided with an upwardlyextending actuating arm 66 adapted to be engaged and displaced, openingthe gate, by the actuating arm 38 mounted on the reciprocating furnaceassembly. The vibrator assembly 56 is conveniently operated bycompressed air supplied through a line 68 having a solenoid operatedvalve 70 included therein.

As indicated earlier, the furnace assembly is horizontally reciprooatedon the tracks v14 so as to traverse the surface of the spinning drum andfor a predetermined portion of its traverse has the mouth 36 of thefurnace feed funnel 30 disposed beneath the chute 58. Suitablypositioned so as to be selectively actuated during the time period whensaid funnel 30* is disposed beneath the chute 58, as by engagement withone of the pressure assembly members, is an electrical location switch72.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of a suitable electrical switcharrangement to assure selective feeding of the reciprocating furnaceonly when the feeding funnel 30 is suitably positioned beneath thehopper chute 58. As there shown, the furnace assembly balance weightswitch 34, the coil assembly 74- for the solenoid actuated air pressurevalve 70' and the furnace assembly location switch 72 are connected inseries across a suitable power source 76. Also connected across thepower source 76 is the hopper balance weight switch and a seriesconnected attention arresting warning member, such as a buzzer orindicating lamp 78. The hopper balance weight switch is arranged so asto be closed when the balance weight arm 48 is disposed in its balanceposition and to be open when said balance weight arm 48 is displacedtherefrom.

By way of example, the operation and functioning of the hereinabovedescribed apparatus is most conveniently described in conjunction withthe serial steps of the operations necessary to effect the fabricationof a condensed filamentous glass mat.

Initially, the hopper 40 is charged with sufficient raw material orglass to effect the fabrication of a plurality of mats. A suitablecharge for apparatus presently employed has been found to be in thenature of 300 or more pounds of glass and should preferably besufficient for at least a days operation. The operator first weighs theweight of the hopper and its contents, and as indicated above, when inbalance the switch Stl will be closed completing the circuit to theattention arresting warning device. At the start of operations thefurnace 28 will also contain a predetermined amount of molten glass. Thebalance weight arm 26 of the balance weight scale 20 mounted on thereciprocating furnace assembly is adjusted so as to be in balance. Theswitch member 34 which is normally open when the balance arm 26 is inits balance position is adjusted so as to be engaged by the balance armupon the displacement thereof effected by the removal of a predeterminedamount of molten glass from the furnace 28. As indicated earlier, it ishighly desirable to maintain the head of the molten glass within thefurnace 28 at a constant or at as nearly a constant value as possible.In actual operations it has been found satisfactory to set theelectrical switch 34 so as to be closed by a displacement of the balancearm occasioned by the removal of one quarter of a pound of glass fromthe furnace 28.

With the balance arm 26 and switch 34 preset as indicated above, theoperator sets the balance arm 48 on the hopper balance Weight scale tocorrespond with the desired amount of glass to be contained in the firstcondensed filamentous mat to be spun, i.e. if at an initial reading of900 pounds the first mat was to contain 20 pounds of glass he would setthe balance arm at 880 pounds. This would cause the balance arm to beinitially displaced, opening the switch 50 and breaking the circuit tothe alarm. Spinning operations would then be commenced and the furnaceassembly will be reciprocated along the track 14. During each timeperiod when the mouth 36 of the hopper 30 is disposed beneath the chute58 the location switch 72 will be closed by the positioning of thefurnace assembly. However, due to the fact that the balance arm switch34 will remain open, the circuit to the solenoid valve 7 0 will remainopen thus keeping the solenoid coil 74 in a deactivated condition. Asthe spinning operation continues, molten glass will be continuallyremoved from the furnace 28 and will be disposed upon the spinning drumin a filamentous form. When a predetermined weight of glass has beenremoved from the furnace, for example, a quar ter of a pound, thebalance arm 26 will be sufficiently displaced to actuate and close thebalance arm switch 34. When the switch 34 is closed the electricalcircuit for the coil assembly 74 for the solenoid actuated air pressurevalve 70 will be closed each time the switch 72 is closed, i.e. when thefeed funnel 30 is disposed beneath the chute 58. During the timeintervals when the switches 34 and 72 are closed the solenoid valve 70will be actuated, admitting air through the line 63 to the vibratorassembly 56, which in turn will effect removal of raw glass from the pan54 and cause the same to flow into the chute 58. In order to assureremoval of the glass material contained in the chute 58 and direction ofthe same into the feed funnel 30, the gate member 60 will only be openedby the actuating arm 38 when the mouth 35 of the feed funnel is disposedbeneath said chute 58. Raw glass from the hopper will thus beautomatically introduced into the furnace during one or morerecip-rocations thereof until sufficient glass has been added to thefurnace to bring the weight of the furnace and its contents back to itstare weight value, at which time the balance arm 26 will be in balanceposition and the switch 34 will be reopened. The reopening of the switch34 eflectively de-energizes the actuating circuit for the solenoid valve70 and permits operations to continue until the predetermined amount ofglass is again withdrawn from the furnace 28. The removal of glass fromthe hopper 40 and periodic incremental recharging of the furnace willcontinue until the predetermined amount of glass has been removed fromthe hopper 40.

In the illustrative example when 20 pounds of glass have been removedfrom the hopper 40, the balance arm 48 of the hopper balance weightscale will return to its balance position, thus closing electricalswitch 50 and completing the circuit for the attention arresting alarmdevice 78'. Actuation of the alarm device automatically informs theoperator that the correct amount of glass has been spun on the drum andfurther indicates the necessity of shutting down the operation of theunit to effect the removal of the completed mat formed on said drum.

After removal of the finished mat from the drum, the operator againresets the balance arm 48- of the hopper balance weight scale tocorrespond to the weight of material to be included in the next mat tobe fabricated, and the operation continues as described above in thefabrication of successive mats.

As will be apparent to those skilled in this art, the above describedstructure permits the maintenance of a practically constant head ofmolten glass in the furnace within very small limits; assures theinclusion of a predetermined weight of glass in each mat that isfabricated and thereby effectively removes from the operator one of thecritical variables that controls the uniformity of the fabricated mats;contributes markedly to the controlled production of condensed mats ofpredetermined weight and uniform character, all of which contribute tomarked reductions in the number of mats rejected for failure to meetspecifications and to the concomitant realization of appreciable timeand cost savings in the production of condensed mats. As will also beapparent to those skilled in the art, the illustrated apparatus isessentially simple in nature and is of a character that can be installedin existing glass spinning machinery with a minimum of time and expense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In apparatus for spinning condensed filamentous mats, a supplymaterial hopper, a continuously reciprocating furnace periodicallytraversing a charge receiving location and from which filamentousmaterial is continuously drawn, means for continually weighing saidfurnace and its contents, first switching means selectively responsiveto a predetermined decrease of the weight of said continuously movingfurnace and its contents from its tare weight value, second switchingmeans selectively responsive to the positional disposition of saidcontinuously moving reciprocating furnace within said charge receivinglocation and means responsive to coincident actuation of said first andsecond switching means for selectively effecting incremental transfer ofsupply material from said hopper into said moving furnace while the sameis traversing said charge receiving location.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said weighing meansincludes a balance weight scale reciprocable in conjunction with saidfurnace.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said last mentionedmeans includes a solenoid actuated vibrator feed assembly.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including means for weighingsaid hopper and its contents.

5 The apparatus as set forth in claim 4 including means responsive toremoval of a predetermined amount of supply material from said hopperfor providing an attention arresting indication thereof.

6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including gate means on saidhopper selectively actuatable by the positional disposition of saidfurnace with said charge receiving station for controlling theincremental admission of supply material to said continuously movingfurnace.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said furnace isprovided with an elongate feed funnel adapted to receive material fromsaid hopper over a susbtantial portion of the path of reciprocation ofsaid furnace.

8. In apparatus for spinning condensed filamentous mats, a supplymaterial hopper, a continually reciprocating balance weight scale, afurnace mounted on said scale from which filamentous material iscontinually drawn and reciprocable in conjunction therewith toperiodically traverse a charge receiving location, first switching meansactuatable by displacement of the balance arm of said scale forindicating a predetermined decrease of the weight of said continuouslymoving furnace and its contents from its tare weight value, secondswitching means actuatable by the positional disposition of saidcontinuously moving furnace within said charge receiving location andmeans responsive to coincident actuation of said first and secondswitching means for selectively effecting incremental transfer of supplymaterial from said hopper into said continuously moving furnace whilethe same is traversing said charge receiving location.

9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 8 including means for continuallyweighing said hopper and its contents.

10. The apparatus as set forth in claim 9 including means responsive toremoval of a predetermined amount of supply material from said hopperfor providing an attention arresting indication thereof.

11. In apparatus for spinning condensed filamentous mats, a supplymaterial hopper, a continuously moving balance weighable reciprocatingfurnace periodically traversing a charge receiving location and fromwhich filamentous material is continually drawn, first switching meansresponsive to a predetermined decrease of the weight of saidcontinuously moving furnace and its contents from its tare weight value,a loading chute positioned to receive material removed from said hopper,second switching means responsive to the positional disposition of saidcontinuously moving furnace within said charge receiving location, meansresponsive to coincident actuation of said first and second switchingmeans for selectively effecting transfer of supply material from saidhopper to said chute, and gate means on said chute selectivelydisplaceable in accordance with the positional disposition of saidcontinuous-1y moving furnace relative .to said chute for effectingtransfer of material disposed in said chute into said furnace while thesame is traversing said charge receiving location.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS615,493 Richards Dec. 6, 1898 1,646,705 P'eiler Oct. 25, 1927 1,769,639Gustafson July 1, 1930 1,796,480 Schellengrager Mar. 17, 1931 2,135,072Forster Nov. 1, 1938 2,330,857 Alcott Oct. 5, 1943 2,373,838 LindholmApr. 17, 1945 2,453,864 Schlehr Nov. 16, 1948 2,546,230 Modigliani Mar.27, 1951 2,798,531 Jackson July 9, 1957 2,814,657 Labino Nov. 26, 19572,927,763 Overman Mar. 8, 1960

1. IN APPARATUS FOR SPINNING CONDENSED FILAMENTOUS MATS, A SUPPLY MATERIAL HOPPER, A CONTINUOUSLY RECIPROCATING FURNACE PERIODICALLY TRAVERSING A CHARGE RECEIVING LOCATION AND FROM WHICH FILAMENTOUS MATERIAL IS CONTINUOUSLY DRAWN, MEANS FOR CONTINUALLY WEIGHING SAID FURNACE AND ITS CONTENTS, FIRST SWITCHING MEANS SELECTIVELY RESPONSIVE TO A PREDETERMINED DECREASE OF THE WEIGHT OF SAID CONTINUOUSLY MOVING FURNACE AND ITS CONTENTS FROM ITS TARE WEIGHT VALUE, SECOND SWITCHING MEANS SELECTIVELY RESPONSIVE TO THE POSITIONAL DISPOSITION OF SAID CONTINUOUSLY MOVING RECIPROCATING FURNACE WITHIN SID CHARGE RECEIVING LOCATION AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO COINCIDENT ACTUATION OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND SWITCHING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY EFFECTING INCREMENTAL TRANSFER OF SUPPLY MATERIAL FROM SAID HOPPER INTO SAID MOVING FURNACE WHILE THE SAME IS TRAVERSING SAID CHARGE RECEIVING LOCATION. 